During the following seventy-year Babylonian exile, this fifth month was a time of fastings and wailings by the Jews in memory of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. (Zech. 7:3, 5; 8:19) It was also in the month Ab that Ezra returned to the restored Jerusalem to instruct the Jews in the law of Jehovah.—Ezra 7:8, 9, 25; see CALENDAR.

ABADDON

(A·badʹdon).

At Revelation 9:11 this Hebrew word is transliterated into the English text. There we read concerning the symbolic plague of locusts that they have “a king, the angel of the abyss. In Hebrew his name is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.”

In Hebrew the word ʼavad·dohnʹ means “destruction.” It appears in the original Hebrew text a total of six times, and in five of the occurrences it is used to parallel “the burial place,” “Sheol” and “death.” (Ps 88:11; Job 26:6; 28:22; Prov. 15:11; 27:20) Thus Psalm 88:11 says: “Will your loving-kindness be declared in the burial place itself, your faithfulness in the place of destruction [ʼavad·dohnʹ]?” The usage of the word in these texts shows that it here refers to the destructive processes that ensue with human death, and serves to describe the place where such decay takes place, namely, Sheol or the common grave of all mankind. At Job 31:12, speaking of his avoidance of loose conduct and immorality, Job uses ʼavad·dohnʹ to describe the damaging effect of such a course by saying: “For that is a fire that would eat clear to destruction [ʼavad·dohnʹ], and among all my produce it would take root.”—Compare Proverbs 6:26-28, 32; 7:26, 27.

At Revelation 9:11, however, the word “Abaddon” is used as the name of “the angel of the abyss.” The corresponding Greek name “Apollyon” means “Destroyer.” In the past century there were efforts made to show that this text prophetically applied to individuals such as Emperor Vespasian, Mohammed, and even Napoleon, and the angel was generally regarded as “satanic.” It should be noted, however, that at Revelation 20:1-3 the angel having “the key of the abyss” is shown to be God’s representative from heaven and, rather than being “satanic,” he binds and hurls Satan into the abyss. Commenting on Revelation 9:11, The Interpreter’s Bible (Vol. 12, p. 434) says: “Abaddon, however, is an angel not of Satan but of God, performing his work of destruction at God’s bidding.”

In the Hebrew scriptures, just considered, it is evident that ʼavad·dohnʹ is paralleled with “Sheol” and “death.” At Revelation 1:18 we find Christ Jesus stating: “I am living forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” His power with regard to the abyss is shown at Luke 8:31. That he has destroying power including the power of destruction over Satan, is evident from Hebrews 2:14, which says that Jesus partook of blood and flesh in order that “through his death he might bring to nothing the one having the means to cause death, that is, the Devil.” At Revelation 19:11-16 he is clearly represented as God’s appointed Destroyer or Executioner.—See APOLLYON.

ABAGTHA

(A·bagʹtha).

The name of one of seven court officials who ministered to the Persian king Ahasuerus, the husband of the Jewess Esther, in his palace in Shushan, the capital of Persia. The name is evidently Persian, and some connect it with the Sanskrit word bagadata and thereby give its meaning as “given by fortune.”—Esther 1:10.

In the King James Version Abagtha is said to be one of seven “chamberlains,” and the marginal reading says “eunuchs.” While eunuchs were frequently used as trusted servants within royal households in Eastern countries, yet the original Hebrew word sa·risʹ primarily has the meaning of “court official,” and only secondarily, a castrated person. Since these seven court officials were attendants of the king and apparently not assigned as guardians of the women (as was Hegai, the king’s eunuch mentioned at Esther 2:3), they may not have been eunuchs in the physical sense.

ABANAH

(A·baʹnah) [probably, stony].

One of the two rivers of Damascus referred to by the Syrian army commander Naaman when scorning Elisha’s instructions to bathe himself in the waters of the Jordan as a cure for his leprosy.—2 Ki. 5:12.

This river is generally identified with the Nahr Barada, which rises in the Anti-Lebanon mountains to the NW of Damascus and, after traversing the mountains, emerges from a gorge just to the W of Damascus. Then it courses through the northern part of the city and fans out to irrigate a large area before finally losing itself in a body of marshes to the E of the city. Its waters, used to irrigate fields and orchards by means of canals and conduits, create an extensive verdant oasis. It can well be said that Damascus owes its existence to the Barada. It has long been the source of water for the city’s cisterns, fountains and baths. Classical writers called it “Golden River” (Chrysorrhoas). So, Naaman’s high opinion of the river appears to have had a solid basis.

The word “Amana” or “Amanah” is used instead of “Abanah” at 2 Kings 5:12 in An American Translation and also in the Jewish Publication Society of America translation, and the margin of the Masoretic text as well as the Syriac version so read. At Song of Solomon 4:8 reference is made to “Amana” in many translations, and it is understood to refer to the Anti-Lebanon mountains in which the river here discussed has its source. So, the river may have taken on the name of the mountains in which it originated.

ABARIM

(Abʹa·rim) [the borderland, or regions beyond].

This name doubtless applies to a region E of the Jordan River and, more particularly, of the Dead Sea. At Jeremiah 22:20 it is mentioned along with regions of Lebanon and Bashan. In the other occasions where it appears in the Bible record, it is connected with a range or system of mountains. The term “Abarim,” as referring to the “regions beyond,” may indicate that the ones originating the term were located on the western side of the Jordan; and it is possible that this term was originally used by Abraham, and still retained by the Israelites on leaving Egypt.

It was near the end of the forty-year trek through the wilderness that the Israelites reached this territory and encamped “in the mountains of Abarim.” (Num. 33:47, 48) Thereafter they descended to the plains of Moab, which lie in Transjordan at the northern end of the Dead Sea. Here they made their final encampment before crossing the Jordan River. Here, too, Jehovah said to Moses: “Go up into this mountain of Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, which fronts toward Jericho, and see the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel as a possession.”—Deut. 32:49; Num. 27:12.

It would appear from this that the region of Abarim, and its range of mountains, was in the NW part of the territory of Moab. However, it may possibly have extended the full length of the chain of mountain bluffs that rise along the entire eastern side of the Dead Sea from N to S. At Numbers 21:11 and 33:44 reference is made to a stopping point on the route of the Israelites called “Iye-abarim,” and the context places this to the S of Moab and at the southern end of the Dead Sea. It may have marked the southernmost point of the region called “Abarim.”—See IYE-ABARIM.

Mount Nebo was evidently one of the higher, if not the highest, of the mountains of Abarim.—See NEBO.

ABBA

(Abʹba).

This Aramaic word appears three times in the Scriptures, always in transliterated form in the original Greek, and in most English translations. Each time it is followed immediately by the translations ho pa·terʹ in Greek, “Father” in English. In each case it is used with reference to the heavenly Father, Jehovah.

The word ʼab·baʼʹ in Aramaic means “father” and corresponds to the Hebrew ʼav (father) but is the emphatic or definite form of ʼav = “the father.” It was the intimate name used by children for their father and combines some of the intimacy of the English word “papa” while retaining the dignity of the word “father,” being both informal and yet respectful. It was, therefore, an endearing form of address rather than a title and was among the first words a child learned to speak. According to the Jewish Gemara, household slaves were not permitted to use the expression ʼab·baʼʹ when addressing the head of the house.

Mark records that Jesus used the term when praying to Jehovah God in Gethsemane shortly before his death, saying: “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you; remove this cup from me. Yet not what I want, but what you want.” (Mark 14:36) Here is the fervent appeal of a son to a beloved father, followed quickly by an assurance that, in any event, he would remain obedient. The two other occurrences are in Paul’s letters, at Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6. In both places the word is used in connection with Christians called to be spirit-begotten sons of God and indicates the intimacy of their relationship with their Father. While they are “slaves to God” and “bought with a price,” yet they are also sons in the house of a loving Father, and they are made positively aware of this status by holy spirit through their Lord Jesus. (Rom. 6:22; 1 Cor. 7:23; Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6) Rather than as just a translation from Aramaic into Greek, some see in the use of both ʼAb·baʼʹ and “Father” together, first, the trust, confidence and submissiveness of a child, followed by a mature appreciation of the filial relationship and its responsibilities. It seems evident from these texts that, in apostolic times, the Christians made use of the term ʼAb·baʼʹ in their prayers to God.

The word ʼAb·baʼʹ came to be applied as a title of honor to the Jewish rabbis in the early centuries of the Common Era and is found as such in the Babylonian Talmud. The “vice-president” of the Jewish Sanhedrin already held the title of ʼAv or ‘Father of the Sanhedrin.’ In later periods the title was also applied to the bishops of the Coptic, Ethiopic and Syrian churches and, more particularly, became the title of the Bishop of Alexandria, thereby making him the “papa” or “pope” of that part of the Eastern church. Our English words “abbot” and “abbey” are both derived from the Aramaic ʼab·baʼʹ. Jerome, the translator of the Latin Vulgate, objected to the use of the title “abbot” as applied to the Catholic monks in his time and did so on the basis that it violated Jesus’ instructions at Matthew 23:9: “Moreover, do not call anyone your father on earth, for one is your Father, the heavenly One.”

ABDA

(Abʹda) [servant].

1. The father of Adoniram. (1 Ki. 4:6) His son, Adoniram, was a prince over those conscripted for forced labor during David’s and Solomon’s reigns, and is evidently the Adoram or Hadoram referred to in other texts. (2 Sam. 20:24; 1 Ki. 12:18; 2 Chron 10:18) Hence, Abda probably was a contemporary of King David.

2. A descendant of Jeduthun, of the tribe of Levi. (Neh. 11:17, 18) Abda the Levite is evidently the same as the “Obadiah” mentioned at 1 Chronicles 9:16. He was among the exiles to return to Jerusalem from Babylon.

ABDEEL

(Abʹde·el) [servant of God].

Father of Shelemiah, one of three men sent by King Jehoiakim to seize the prophet Jeremiah and his secretary Baruch.—Jer. 36:26.

ABDI

(Abʹdi) [probably, a contracted form of “servant of Jah”].

1. A Levite of the house of Merari. He was the father of Kishi and probably a contemporary of Saul whose reign ran from 1117 to 1077 B.C.E.—1 Chron. 6:31, 33, 39, 44.

2. Also a Levite of the house of Merari. He was the father of Kish. (2 Chron. 29:12) Because of the similarity of their sons’ names some Bible dictionaries represent this Abdi and the one described above as being the same person. However, the fact that this second Abdi’s son, Kish, lived in the time of King Hezekiah some 250 years after David’s time, makes such a conclusion illogical. This second Abdi was probably a contemporary of Kings Jotham and Ahaz, whose reigns cover the period from 777 B.C.E. to 745 B.C.E.

3. One of six sons of Elam who lived in postcaptivity times. (Ezra 10:26) They were among those Israelites who had taken foreign wives but who put them away in response to Ezra’s exhortation following his return to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes I (468 B.C.E.).—Ezra 7:8; 10:1-4, 10-12, 26, 44.

ABDIEL

(Abʹdi·el) [servant of God].

The son of Guni and the father of Ahi, of the tribe of Gad. (1 Chron. 5:15) He lived in the region of Gilead and Bashan in Transjordan, an area prominent for cattle raising.—Vs. 16.

ABDON

(Abʹdon) [servile].

1. A judge, the son of Hillel the Pirathonite of Ephraim. (Judg. 12:13-15) According to Josephus, his rule of eight years was one of peace, and the Bible record gives no mention of wars during that period. Abdon’s forty sons and thirty grandsons all “rode on seventy full-grown asses,” a sign of considerable wealth and rank at that time. At the end of his judgeship Abdon was buried in his native Ephraim.

Some would connect Abdon with “Bedan,” mentioned at 1 Samuel 12:11; however, Bedan is more likely identified with Barak, whose name appears in this text in both the Septuagint and the Syriac Peshitta Version.

2. A Benjamite, firstborn son of Jeiel and evidently a brother of Ner, Saul’s grandfather.—1 Chron. 8:30; 9:36, 39.

3. An official in King Josiah’s court (2 Chron. 34:20), called Achbor at 2 Kings 22:12.—See ACHBOR No. 2.

4. A son of Shashak of the tribe of Benjamin; a headman dwelling in Jerusalem.—1 Chron. 8:23-28.

5. One of four cities in the territory of Asher given to the Levites of the family of Gershon. (Josh. 21:27-30; 1 Chron. 6:71-74) It is identified with Khirbet ʽAbdeh about four miles (6.4 kilometers) E of Achzib. Abdon lies on the N side of the Wadi Qarn and at the foot of the hills of Galilee, and hence near the northern end of the plain of Asher.

ABEDNEGO

(A·bedʹne·go) [servant of Nego, the Chaldaic Mercury].

The name given to Azariah, one of the youths of the Jewish royalty or nobility taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar in 617 B.C.E. (Dan. 1:3, 4, 7) Some authorities believe “Nego” to be an intentional corruption of the name Nebo, a Babylonian god, so as not to offend Azariah. The name “Azariah” means “Jah Has Helped,” and, among themselves, it appears that these Hebrews continued to use their original names. (Dan. 2:17) In Babylon he, along with Daniel, Hananiah and Mishael, passed, with high honors, a three-year training course and a regal examination personally conducted by Nebuchadnezzar, after having first demonstrated religious integrity in matters of food and drink. (Dan. 1:4, 5, 8-20) Later, at Daniel’s request, the king made Azariah and his two companions administrators over the jurisdictional district of Babylon.—Dan. 2:49.

Abednego (Azariah), along with his two Hebrew companions, was subsequently denounced before the king by certain Chaldeans for refusing to bow down